Monica Mankowski

Deputy Superintendent- Inclusive Education

Francois Gagnon

Secretary Treasurer

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Good Shepherd is a Lighthouse School!

(FORT MCMURRAY, AB – May 14, 2020) The students and staff at Good Shepherd School have reached an important milestone in their Leader in Me leadership journey. They have been named a Lighthouse School.

Good Shepherd School becomes the first school in the Fort McMurray Catholic Schools family to achieve this status.

“We are so blessed to have our dedicated staff, students, and families to achieve a Lighthouse Milestone Certification. This shows our commitment to the 7 Habits and strengthens our Catholic Faith. As we move forward striving to support and assist other Catholic schools in their journey. We will continue to lead like ‘the Good Shepherd’.” – Sheldon Germain, Principal, Good Shepherd School

Good Shepherd School began their Leader in Me journey in 2011. Since then, our students and staff have significantly progressed in the empowering Leader in Me process.

“This has been a team effort for many years. We are a small staff and we continually took small steps forward. It has been a sustained effort for many years as we focussed on honing our leadership skills. All of our students and staff have been part of this effort. Moments prior to achieving this milestone, COVID-19 came into play and we were afraid that our work would be delayed. We are so thankful Leader in Me was able to do a virtual evaluation so this day could happen now!” – Good Shepherd School Lighthouse Team

“Congratulations Good Shepherd School, and welcome to the community of Lighthouse Schools!” – David Ansbacher, Ed. D., Leader in Me Director of Lighthouse and Quality Initiatives

“Congratulations! It was such a pleasure to meet all of you and learn from your greatness. You are all so deserving of this honour.” – Courtney Wildoner, Leader in Me Lead Evaluator for Lighthouse Milestone Certification

“As we engaged your students, staff, and parents, it was clear that the Leader in Me is deeply embedded in your school culture at the highest level. I am so deeply impressed.” – David George, Leader in Me Evaluator for Lighthouse Milestone Certification

“Mother Theresa once said, ‘You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.’ Over the past 8 to 9 years I have been lucky enough to witness the many educators, students, parents and community members who have all contributed to this great little school. What stands out as common amongst them all is the love and care they have for each other. Congratulations to all my friends at Good Shepherd achieving the Lighthouse milestone, joining a special group of schools from around the world.” – Mike Suto, Leader in Me Trainer/Facilitator

There are several criteria for a school to meet to achieve Lighthouse status, including:

Leadership principles are effectively taught to all students through direct lessons, integrated approaches, and staff modelling. Students are able to think critically about and apply leadership principles.Students lead their own learning with the skills to assess their needs, set appropriate goals, and carry out action plans. They track progress toward goals in Leadership Notebooks and share these notebooks with adults in student-led conferences.Teacher planning and reflection, trusting relationships, and student-led learning combine to create environments for highly engaged learning.

We look forward to celebrating this incredible honour together in person soon. But for now, we share our virtual congratulations, pride, and admiration on behalf of the Fort McMurray Catholic Schools family!